Business as Usual

It should come as no surprise that Google has opted for self-censorship with its new site Google.cn, which accommodates the Chinese dictatorship in order to gain access to the huge potential market the country presents.

The precedents are many. American companies did business with the Nazis. American oil companies, in particular, were quick to make deals with the Soviet Union. The Clinton administration encouraged American businesses to enter the Chinese market. Not so long ago, Microsoft blocked a Chinese blogger, who was ultimately arrested and sentenced to prison in China.

While there may be abstract parallels, Google’s unprincipled approach to doing business in China in no way diminishes the danger of government censorship in the USA, which the company has rightly chosen to challenge. The only choice Google has in China is do as the communist regime says or take their marbles and go home.

So, Goggle is following a familiar pattern, seeking to open new markets, complying with the laws of the country they want to operate in, putting their principles on the back shelf and rationalizing their action with the usual cliché: business as usual.



Tags:
Google, Microsoft, China, censorship